


slow dance these summer nights

by captainsabs (juliansweigl)



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 18:33:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16310501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juliansweigl/pseuds/captainsabs
Summary: the four times that Chloe forces Beca to dance with her and the one time that Beca asks Chloe to dance.





	slow dance these summer nights

**Author's Note:**

> one day i will actually update my fic instead of posting random one shots. (i'm begging you please force me to write the next chapter of something like love)

_One_

 

They have been dating for precisely four months when Chloe’s cousin’s wedding arrives and the couple fly into Nashville for the weekend with far too much luggage for three days, hangovers that they aren’t even trying to hide and Chloe’s constant grumbling that she feels left out because she was the only cousin chosen to not be in the wedding party.

 

“I was so fucking nice to her, you know? As a teenager she was a bitch and all of us hated her attitude but I always stuck up for her and now _this_?” Chloe sighs as she stops her suitcase in the middle of their hotel room and places the back of her hand against her forehead.

 

Beca humors her girlfriend’s resentment towards the bride; after all, she’s heard similar from Chloe every day for the last two weeks.

 

“She’s a bitch.” Beca offers up feebly, barely paying attention as she throws her suitcase onto the edge of the bed and unzips it. “I’d say something.”

 

“No!” Chloe exclaims. “She gets offended easily-”

 

“I’m guessing it runs in the family?” Beca teases with a small smirk as Chloe gasps, turns and kicks out at the back of her girlfriend’s knee.

 

“- I was _going_ to say – if I say something she will get so offended that she’ll probably ban me from the wedding.” Chloe mutters as she sits on the edge of the bed, leaning against Beca’s suitcase.

 

“Do you _really want_ to be a bridesmaid?” Beca asks as she pulls out a pair of shoes and tosses them behind Chloe onto the bed.

 

“God no.” Chloe immediately turns her nose up.

 

It takes a matter of seconds before Chloe starts laughing hysterically, Beca staring at her and wondering what’s wrong until Chloe wipes tears from underneath her eyes and stares up at Beca.

 

“I feel so fucking sorry for my cousins.”

 

 

Chloe’s leg is bouncing up and down, her fingers are tapping against the side of the empty champagne glass sitting on the table in front of her, she can’t focus on one specific part of the wedding reception. Chloe looks between her recently married cousin and her parents, to her niece and brother, to a mid-twenty-something man and his date.

 

She looks between those specific people because they’re all dancing, the dance floor is packed anyway but the way her dad still holds her mom close after nearly thirty years of marriage as he spins her around as if he hadn’t had a hip replacement just two months ago. She looks at her niece standing on her brother’s feet as he spins his daughter around, her curls flying behind her as she giggles loudly. The married couple is front and center, swaying to a song that was definitely never intended to be swayed to.

 

Chloe sighs.

 

She turns to her right and finds Beca staring right back at her, a straw between her lips as she sips her drink and Chloe subtly nods to the dancefloor.

 

“I don’t dance.” Beca protests before coughing and nearly choking on her drink.

 

Chloe snorts but ignores Beca’s protests. “Don’t dance or can’t dance?”

 

“What’s the difference?” Beca asks and Chloe looks at her dumbfounded – wondering if Beca has actually just asked her if there’s a difference.

 

She explains anyway. “Don’t dance means that you don’t like dancing and won’t participate but can’t dance means you have two left feet – how drunk are you?”

 

“I’m tipsy.” Beca shrugs as she struggles to grasp at her straw which has fallen to the opposite side of the glass.

 

“Can you dance with me?” Chloe asks wondering if using her words will be able to sway Beca’s decision.

 

“I don’t dance.” Beca repeats.

 

“Even with me? At the wedding of my cousin who _didn’t want_ me involved in her wedding even though I would _definitely_ take a bullet for her? The cousin who acted like I didn’t exist? The cousin who didn’t want me up beside her as she married the love of her-”

 

“Alright!” Beca exclaims as she slides her glass onto the table. “Stop guilt-tripping me.”

 

Chloe bursts out into a grin as she stands up and extends her hand to her girlfriend to which Beca takes her hand reluctantly and with a scowl set firmly on her face.

 

“I’ll dance one dance with you but no complaining when I stand on your feet.” Beca huffs as Chloe pulls her out onto the dance floor and hooks her arms around Beca’s shoulders.

 

Beca’s hands automatically find Chloe’s waist as the song changes from upbeat to slow and romantic which only fuels Beca annoyance.

 

“You knew they were going to play a slow song next.” It isn’t a question, it’s a statement and Chloe nods.

 

“I’ve been following the playlist; every time they play a slow song they play five fast songs before playing a slow song again.” Chloe shrugs as they sway in-between Chloe’s sister and Chloe’s Aunt.

 

“You sneaky-”

 

Chloe cuts her off with a kiss.

 

 

XxX

 

 

_Two_

 

They spend the weekend at Chloe’s parents’ cabin upstate and by spending the weekend at the cabin, they mean in the cabin because for the entire time that they’re there it does nothing but pour down and after watching every DVD in the cupboard, playing board games from their childhood and cooking dinner – Chloe’s bored.

 

Until she’s not.

 

An idea springs to mind and she runs out of the living room to Beca looking up from her laptop and calling after her. Chloe grabs her jacket from the banister and slips her feet into her muddy boots before carefully pulling the door open and walking outside. The rain instantly soaks through her jacket as she skips down the steps and stands in the rain, arms spread out wide as the rain continues to beat down.

 

Her hair is sticking to her cheeks by the time that Beca gets to the front door, staring at her girlfriend wide-eyed as she stands in the rain making no effort to retreat back inside.

 

“What the hell are you doing?!” Beca shouts across to her, her question barely reaching Chloe through the loudness of the rain.

 

“Grab your shoes!” Chloe shouts back.

 

“Fuck no!” Beca yells.

 

“I have an idea!” Chloe tries again.

 

Beca stands at the doorway with her arms folded across her chest for a few seconds before she grumbles and starts muttering under her breath and reaches down to grab her shoes before running out into the rain with her arm above her head.

 

Chloe links her fingers through Beca’s as soon as she reaches her, pulling her close as the pair stand at the front of the cabin, soaked through, raindrops dripping as Chloe smiles.

 

“You better have a good reason for doing this.” Beca shivers as Chloe steps back, their fingers still intertwined.

 

“You know what I’ve always wanted to do?” Chloe asks ignoring Beca.

 

“Get hypothermia in upstate Georgia?” Beca draws out sarcastically.

 

“Dance in the rain.” Chloe grins as she dips her head and lets go of one of Beca’s hands so that she can hold Beca’s waist instead – mainly to stop Beca from running back inside but she would never tell her that. “I see it all the time in movies and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

 

“You’re really risking hypothermia for some rom-com wish? I hate you.”

 

“You love me.” Chloe laughs as she pokes Beca’s cheek and starts to dance.

 

Beca’s reluctant, shivering and forces Chloe to lead as they dance around in a circle to avoid the various mud puddles around them. Beca sniffles as Chloe drops her head to Beca’s shoulder as the two continue swaying as the rain shows no signs of letting up.

 

 

XxX

 

_Three_

 

On Wednesday’s they have home-date night which basically means they spend two hours attempting to cook a homemade meal together before realizing it’s a disaster and they order takeout and sit on the couch watching Netflix whilst eating it.

 

This time they’re attempting to cook Spaghetti Bolognese following the simplest recipe that they could find on the internet. It should be easy.

 

_Should._

 

Beca shrieks when Chloe grabs a forkful of spaghetti noodles and flings it at the wall behind the stove.

 

“What?” Chloe asks her. “That’s how you see if it’s done.”

 

“You have spaghetti stuck to my kitchen wall!” Beca exclaims as she gestures to the spaghetti barely sliding down the wall.

 

“You’re burning the sauce.” Chloe nods down towards the pan full of store bought Bolognese sauce because _why make it_?”

 

Beca doesn’t hear her and instead she’s leaning over the sauce and trying to grasp at the sticky noodles that are still on the wall.

 

“You’re burning the sauce.” Chloe repeats but her words still go unheard. “Beca you’re burning the fucking sauce!”

 

“What?!”

 

Beca jumps back and elastic from her sweatpants get hooked on the handle of the pan and cause the pan to jerk off the stove and land face first on the floor with the sauce spilling out quickly enough to soak through Beca’s white socks.

 

“Fucking hell.”

 

“Oh my god.”

 

For a second Chloe and Beca just stare at the floor before jumping into action as Chloe runs to grab the mop and Beca lifts the pan up and tosses it on the counter as they begin cleaning up.

 

“Maybe Wednesday’s should just be Netflix and takeout date night – we haven’t been able to make an edible meal in a year.” Chloe laughs a little as she presses the mop into the floor to soak up the sauce.

 

“Chinese?” Beca asks already reaching into her sweatpants pocket to pull her phone out.

 

Chloe hums in agreement. “Finish season two of The Good Place?”

 

Beca nods as she orders the takeout.

 

Beca’s walking back through her apartment after changing out of her Bolognese stained clothes when she hears music coming from the kitchen – it doesn’t surprise her, Chloe can’t even do the simplest of tasks without listening to some sort of music.

 

“ _Slow dance these summer nights; our disco ball’s my kitchen light._ ”

 

“Isn’t this a _little_ cliché?” Beca snorts as she glances at Chloe holding her hand out towards her. “Can’t I just have one night when our foreplay isn’t ripping off Dancing With The Stars?”

 

“You’re the star?” Chloe asks her. “Jameson middle school talent show champion.

 

“Of course.” Beca grins smugly but makes no movement towards Chloe. “You are looking at the Fairmeadow Elementary School talent show champion.”

 

“Oh, sure, _how_ could I forget?” Chloe asks with an eye roll. “Dance with me before the fucking song ends.”

 

“I want a new girlfriend.” Beca mutters as she shuffles across the kitchen and slips her hand into Chloe’s. “Preferably one who can’t dance.”

 

“Okay honey.” Chloe mumbles as she spins Beca out and back in as the song starts playing again.

 

“You put it on repeat in case I said no?”

 

“Duh?” Chloe laughs. “I’m not a dumbass. You hate dancing and I love this song.”

 

 

XxX

 

 

_Four_

 

Chloe’s not drunk. Not by any means. She’s happy. She’s unable to walk in a straight line or form a coherent sentence but she’s not drunk.

 

She screams when the song changes and jumps up and down in the middle of the kitchen as she dances or at least attempts to whilst bumping into people and knocking their drinks out of their hands _accidentally_.

 

“I think it’s time to go home.” Beca soothes when she finally finds her girlfriend after losing her in the middle of a game of beer pong. “I think it’s time to sleep before you do something dumb.”

 

“M’not drunk.” Chloe mumbles as she frowns and juts out her bottom lip.

 

“Of course you’re not.” Beca agrees but the hand on the small of Chloe’s back and her other hand in Chloe’s as she leads her towards the front door of the house says otherwise. “You’ll thank me in the morning.”

 

“It’s morning?! I g-got work!” Chloe slurs as she stands up straight and starts glancing around in all directions. “My boss is gonna kill m-me!”

 

Beca does debate telling Chloe it’s nearly two in the morning on a Saturday and that she doesn’t work weekends but she decides against it and wonders how long it will take the last remaining ounce of soberness in her body to realize.

 

Chloe doesn’t and starts waving at an empty street for a cab.

 

“Dance with me.” Chloe bursts out suddenly as she spins around, stumbling to face her girlfriend.

 

“No.” Beca laughs.

 

“You _don’t_ love _me anymore_?” Chloe sniffles as she furrows her eyebrows and waits for Beca’s resolve to melt. “We have been together for nearly two years and you _don’t_ love me and you don’t _want_ to d-dance w-with me?”

 

Beca sighs, letting her eyes flutter open and closed for a few seconds before she reluctantly sticks her hand out and lets Chloe take it and spin around with Beca stood awkwardly still on the sidewalk as they wait for their Uber.

 

Chloe barely dances. She stumbles and grips Beca’s hand so hard that Beca thinks Chloe might’ve broken it or at least bruised it. Chloe spins and spins and spins until she stops and covers her hand with her mouth.

 

Beca shrugs – at least Chloe puked in the bushes and not the Uber.

 

 

XxX

 

 

_Five._

 

They’re Mrs. and Mrs. Beale-Mitchell.

 

It’s been coming. Nobody was surprised when Beca finally proposed; everybody knew they were perfect for each other from day one. Chloe’s sometimes ditzy-ness was balanced out by Beca’s ability to keep a level head in most situations. Chloe’s bright personality has helped bring Beca out of her shell over the course of their relationship. They’re total opposites in so many aspects of their lives but together they make a pretty perfect person.

 

Beca doesn’t know how she’s managed to keep this from Chloe from three months; constantly leaving the house for hours every day and only offering up Chloe badly-thought out excuses. Out of the corner of her eye she can see Chloe laughing and talking to Aubrey. Beca bounces nervously from foot to foot and balls her hands up into fists before releasing them and taking deep breath after deep breath.

 

“You’ve got this.” Jesse reassures her with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

 

“Yeah.” Beca laughs nervously before tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. “Yeah. I have.”

 

It’s an elaborate plan and it’s the only part of the wedding that Beca actually planned and Chloe doesn’t suspect a thing. Beca’s been through this for months, tirelessly rehearsing, putting so many hours in to make sure that this is a wedding present that Chloe will _never_ forget.

 

The music stops and everybody starts to talk amongst themselves whilst also sharing confused glances as they look around the room. Beca watches as the dancers she’s been working with take their places in the middle of the room and she slowly walks out behind them.

 

Chloe chose their date night at the movies to watch The Greatest Showman, they actually watched it in the theater six times and as soon as the DVD went on sale – Chloe was practically the first in line to buy it. Beca finds her wife’s obsession with the movie to be endearing. Chloe cries every time she watches it as though she has no idea what’s coming next – this time she doesn’t.

 

The opening notes to A Million Dreams start to play and spotlights turn on around the room illuminating the dancers as they move around the room gracefully before separating and allowing Beca to (nearly) stumble as she walks through with her hand extended to Chloe.

 

“Can I have this dance?”

 

“You’re kidding?!” Chloe exclaims before she bursts out into a grin.

 

“Maybe before the song ends?” Beca suggests.

 

Chloe rushes forward and slips her hand into Beca’s as Beca immediately spins her out and back into her arms. The months of practice, the months of meeting Jesse at a small dance studio in downtown Atlanta and learning how to dance as though she doesn’t have two left feet. Beca wanted to get something special for Chloe for their wedding – because apparently having Chloe agree to marry her dumb ass wasn’t enough.

 

It hit her late one night with four months until their wedding. Chloe was watching Dancing With The Stars as she always does and it seemed so obvious once the idea was an idea – taking the one thing that Chloe loves and the one thing that seemed to be a staple of their relationship – whether Beca liked it or not.

 

Learning to dance.

 

Surprising Chloe with their first dance with her favorite song from her favorite movie.

 

The tears are welling up in Chloe’s eyes as Beca leads them around the floor with the group of high school students that Beca worked with dancing around them.

 

 _Maybe dancing isn’t so bad_.


End file.
